


Open doors make great icebreakers

by Euphoriclester



Category: Phan, Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), dan and phil
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Reality, future smut, kinda coffee shop au, some homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-26 06:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7564267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Euphoriclester/pseuds/Euphoriclester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Phil's front door handle had always given him problems. It was basically broken; You couldn't swing the door closed behind you absentmindedly. The latch wouldn't move and you'd just hear the sound of metal hitting metal. You would just end up turning around and having to close it again, or you'd unexpectedly find your door wide open.<br/>Today was one of those days."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hi, greetings, salutations. This is a cute little fic that was inspired by a prompt i saw on tumblr and i made it into a oneshot a while back. I posted it on Wattpad, but I since adjusted it and now i'm thinking of making this into a full length fanfiction. I would really appreciate some feedback on this idea, so i put up just a little bit of it to 'test the waters'. enjoy c:

Phil's front door handle had always given him problems. It was basically broken; You couldn't swing the door closed behind you absentmindedly. The latch wouldn't move and you'd just hear the sound of metal hitting metal. You would just end up turning around and having to close it again, or you'd unexpectedly find your door wide open.

Today was one of those days.

Phil had rushed inside his house and threw the door closed behind him, earbuds stuffed in his ears. His stomach growled loudly as he ran down the hall and into the kitchen, Red faced from embarrassment of a loud stomach on the quiet tube and little desperate jog home. He set his bag and an empty coffee cup on the kitchen table and rummaged through his fridge to pull out some pizza wrapped in tinfoil. Thank god for left overs. 

He took a few steps to get some ribena and a bag of crisps before he sat himself at his table, pulling out his laptop from his rucksack and opening it up, going straight to YouTube. This was Phil's daily routine when he came home from work.

Phil opened a new tab for tumblr a few minutes later and in his mindless scrolling he didn't hear the distant clicking noise echoing gently from his hallway, That was until he felt something wet and cold press against his ankle, making him jump and emit a hiccup-gasp of surprise before he was on the floor and being covered with wet and smelly kisses. 

By now Phil had figured out what the sniffling creature was, and when he looked to the face of a rather happy shiba inu, he wasn't disappointed. He reached a hand up to pet behind the dogs ear with a wide grin on his face before he noticed the leash that dragged behind him was lacking a person. 

He pulled himself to his feet and grabbed the leash, muttering a little "c'mon," as he began to usher to his front door. The way the dog's little claws tapped against the hardwood floor of his hallway made him smile a bit as he seemed to have remembered something. He looked down to the dog then back up again as he crossed the threshold of his open door, looking for any sign of a pet-less owner.

There, to the side of him, was a slightly taller man dressed in black and looking quite panicked as he typed away on his phone. 

"Is this your dog?" Phil asked, causing the man to look up at him with wide coffee brown eyes. 

"Oh my god yes. I'm so sorry, i was going to knock but you never know who lives around here-" He stated with a breathy and slightly sarcastic tone, an awkward laugh falling in between his words. 

Phil had never seen this man before, because if he had, he'd remember. He had pretty coffee colored eyes and warm skin, a kind looking smile and a side swept fringe that looked like his own, but opposite and brown. If it weren't all for the black he was wearing and the dreary look in his eyes, he'd think this man was the epitome of sunshine. 

Phil extended his leash tied hand out to give to the other, offering a friendly question in the process, adding in his own little laugh. "Did you just move here? I usually know all the faces here in the complex," 

"Yeah, actually. A few days ago," The man replied, taking the leash gratefully. "Thank you and, again i'm very sorry. Susan gets excited-"

"You named your dog Susan?" Phil asked with a wide grin, cutting him off. "That's amazing." He laughed, bring a hand up to cover his mouth, suddenly growing self conscious about his teeth and his little tongue thing. The brunette just vocalized a laugh back at him.

"W-What's wrong with that?" He eventually asked mid-laughter. 

"Absolutely nothing," Phil replied. "I'm Phil by the way, Phil Lester." He offered out a hand which the other man took. 

"I'm Dan. Dan Howell." 

this was going to be the start of a great friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope the first part was sufficient. I actually really like this so i think i'm going to continue. If anyone has any future ideas for the story i'd live to incorporate some other ideas with proper credit given. Enjoy!

Phil's eyes were glazed over as he stared out the window, knees pulled up to his chest and a half a cup of lavender tea just under his nose. 

It was raining outside and the pitter-patter of rain against his window was such a calming sound. It was easy to slip into your own thoughts when that was the background music. 

He remembered back to when he was a 4 year old boy visiting his Nan's house. That day he was greeted with a puppy named Bundle. During his childhood he went to his grandparents house nearly every weekend, so that long haired canine had a place in his childhood. He's always wanted a dog of his own since. He'd ask his parents time and time again, but he never got one. He wasn't too sad about that though, he knew how high maintenance they were, and since he was always working he knew he wouldn't be able to give the dog enough attention anyways. 

_Maybe one day..._ He mused to himself. 

He thought back to the dog who came into his house yesterday. She was called Susan, and every time he remembered that bit of information, he would smile. 

It wasn't just the dog he thought about though. No, the man behind the silly name was quite interesting too. He looked kind, and was no doubt handsome, but the fact that he had _actually_ named his dog Susan made Phil feel a bit closer to him, like they had something in common. 

That was more than enough for him to get curious. 

The rain still droned on but the setting sun was almost now completely gone, leaving a still fading navy blue in the sky. The view from his room was on a fairly busy street, and he could see very few cars still underneath the streetlights. He could have guessed the time to be around 9:00 so he decided to take an early night. Plus he had an early shift at The Coffee Cup. 

* * * 

His alarm couldn't have been anymore annoying. 

It was 6:00 and for him, this was early. At least he didn't have to wake up at 4:00 to open up like his coworker Johnathan did, poor guy. 

It took him ten minutes to drag himself out of bed, and by then he only had 20 minutes to get ready. He rubbed his heavy eyes and lazily pulled himself to his feet before grabbing his uniform. The first thing he did was slip into black jeans and his cobalt blue shirt he was required to wear while working. He grabbed some random socks from the top drawer of his wardrobe, today's miss-matched pair being checkers and narwhals, before going to his bathroom and switching on his straightener. Phil momentarily left the room to grab a yogurt and a glass of water before going back into the bathroom to fix his bedhead, finishing it off with some dry shampoo. He made sure to put the empty yogurt container in the bin, turn off all the lights and appliances in his house, and grab his bag, phone, and keys before he went out the door. 

And, coincidentally, that the exact same time Dan exited his apartment just three doors down. 

In between their doors were the stairs down to the next level, and it looked at if that was where they were both headed. Phil got to the stairs first but he paused for a second to smile at the Brown haired boy. He expected Dan to smile back shyly and remain quiet on their way down, letting the awkward creaking of the stairs carry a conversation for them, but he was surprised to hear a little "Hello Phil." in a warm but still groggy tone. 

Dan must have been tired too. 

"Hey where are you off too so early?" Phil asked with friendly intentions. Maybe he had work too, and it just happened to start the same time Phil's did. 

"I have class in half an hour." He replied casually. 

Suddenly Phil noticed how much younger this boy must have been. He had never asked his age, but considering he lived alone, he was older than 18 but still going to class, so he was in college. But he didn't seem _that_ young so he guessed he was maybe... 25? By this hypothesis he was 4 years older than him and it made him feel better knowing he wasn't an almost 30 year old man talking to someone who was just barely an adult. 

"Oh, what do you study? And why does it require you to wake up so early?" Phil asked humorously as they made it to the last steps of the stairs. 

Dan let a breathy laugh slip before sighing with a small smile, "Law" 

"I'm sorry." Was Phil's immediate response, but after the words had escaped he suddenly wondered if that was an inappropriate thing to say. 

"I appreciate your sympathy." Dan chuckled. "So why are you up so early?" 

Phil noticed how much more friendly and confident Dan was right now. He still held himself in an awkward manner but his communication skills were much less so. "I work at the coffee shop three blocks from here, The Coffee Cup." Phil advertised with his hands and deepened his voice playfully as he said the title. This eared him a chuckle from Dan as he lifted his chin and nodded almost as if to say 'oh yeah?' 

There was a little pause in the conversation as they exited the building. At least it wasn't raining, which was good. 

"That's funny, i walk past there to get to my bus stop. I was planning on grabbing breakfast. " Dan finally said, adjusting his backpack straps and shoving his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. 

Part of him knew that Dan had only just made that decision. "What a coincidence" He looked at Dan with a grin, something small and warm blooming within his stomach. 

They both acknowledged the cars that drove by and the birds that flew above head in a wordless conversation. For the rest of the walk as a matter of fact, no words were being exchanged between them, and it wasn't awkward like Phil thought it would be. For that, he was more than grateful. He felt so brave around Dan, maybe because he was subconsciously trying to impress him, or because Phil noticed how awkward he was too. He just dismissed the thought to be the latter to save himself the embarrassment. 

Once they did make it there Dan held open the door and let Phil slip in first. He spoke a small thank you before heading behind the till and into the employee room to drop his stuff and sign in. 

He wanted to get out there before Dan got his stuff an left. 

While he walked out tying his apron he noticed that Dan was still behind one other person, an older lady. Seemed like she was doing an office run, as she was reading off a slip of paper to an annoyed Rose who was currently at the till. 

Phil made the drinks and cleaned the tables, that was his job. He was too awkward to run the register and he'd always make typos or press the wrong button during people's orders, as his boss had...kindly pointed out to him. 

He definitely wasn't mad about it though. 

The lady who was doing an Office run had maybe 8 drinks to be made so Phil got right to helping Johnathan, who was already there working, make the drinks. 

He would sneak a peak at Dan, who seemed to be already looking at him. They exchanged knowing looks in regards to the Office lady, eyebrows raised and bright eyes replacing laughter. When she was finally done and waiting for her order it was Dan's turn to request. 

"What can i get for you?" My eyes shot straight to Rose as soon as i heard that flirty tone, the same one she used on me before i had come out to her. Dan didn't seem to notice though, he just glanced at me, before looking up at the menu. "I'd like one of your caramel mocha's with no whip cream and a blueberry bagel." 

Phil made note of the order as he poured foam into the last drink of the Office lady's order. He handed it to Johnathan to put into trays for her while he started Dan's drink. 

Dan was now in front of him, only a glass display and a coffee machine between them 

"Are you a fan of caramel?" Phil asked him as he grabbed the milk from the fridge just below the counter. 

Dan uttered a firm "yes." a smile yet again being exchanged between the two boys. 

"I'll have to remember that then." Phil said with a raised brow, drizzling caramel on top of the drink. He usually wouldn't do that unless the order had whip cream but Dan was an exception. Once he was finished Dan had already received his bagel "Here you go" He set down the drink in front of him. "I hope your class goes by quickly. See you later" He was doing his best to seem confident. 

He could have sworn Dan just blushed 

As he walked out of the coffee shop Phil could feel the eyes of Johnathan and Rose land on him. "Do you know him?" It was Rose who spoke . She sounded annoyed, as if she had just lost a race or a bet. No one was currently in line to order so I couldn't just avoid the question. 

"Yeah, he just moved in beside me." He replied blandly, and took a cloth to counter, also putting away the caramel bottle. He could feel Rose about to say something before an older man ready to order distracted her. 

Phil took a deep breath and went back to cleaning up hoping that maybe Dan would stop by an say hello after his class got out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where i'm going with this fic ugh. But a big thanks to the Kudos i'm receiving. Here's a bit of an insight on how the two are reacting to the new friendship. Sorry it's small but at least it's something. enjoy!

Dan's eyes threatened to hide themselves behind tired eyelids as the professor droned on about the structure of evidence. His cheekbone on his left side was getting numb as he had propped his elbow on the desk and was using his hand as a pillow. He was to tired to care though, even the notes he was suppose to be writing were put on hold, as had his attention. In short, He didn't want to be here today. 

Luckily this was a shorter class, soon he would be able go home and lay down with Susan while relaxing for a few hours. But he also wanted to run into Phil again. 

Dan felt like he could say they were similar in personality, but he hadn't exactly known him long enough to properly determine that. At the very least, he detected that Phil was a kind man, friendly, and a hell of a lot better at carrying a conversation that him. To Dan, Phil was one of those people that he _wanted_ to get to know.  
and he definitely didn't ignore the smile on Phil's face when he heard Susan's name. Dan had named her that ironically. Most of the time he'd just get confused looks or people wouldn't react in any way other than _'can i pet her?'_ or the usual _'awwww'_ she would get. But Phil actually giggled at the name as if it were already an inside joke between the two. 

Though, on the other side of things, it only took one encounter to notice the older mans physical attributes. Obviously he was pale, which contrasted to his dyed black hair and soft blue eyes. He had high cheekbones and a large nose that wouldn't have suited anyone better than him. It was nice that he was tall too, Dan felt less like a giraffe around him. He couldn't ignore the fact that he was easy on the eyes as well, which made him feel a bit awkward in his presence. 

Long story short, Dan wasn't exactly...comfortable with that part of himself just yet. 

Dan's eyes glazed over the clock just across the room. It took him longer to read than he'd like to admit, but he figured he had about 32 minutes left in class. That, and the commute time riding the bus would be about 20-30 minutes so that would place him outside of the coffee shop at...8:05. That was to early for a lunch break. 

Dan audibly sighed as he leaned back in his chair and played with one of his hoodie strings. He had only just met Phil, and he knew as much about him as he would a talkative stranger in an elevator. Why was he so intent on spending time with him? 

The brunet removed his hand from his string and grabbed the empty coffee cup, turning it around so he could read his name written in Phil's handwriting. He looked up at the clock again before putting the cup down and picking up his pencil to copy down the notes written in the whiteboard. 

* * *

Phil wiped the crumbs of a scone off a table with a warm and damp cloth, licking his lips absentmindedly. He felt somewhere else today. 

His mind was on everything but work, and already he's made one too many mess ups. First he drops a milk jug and the little bit that was in it goes all over his jeans, then he even tried to put chocolate sauce on someones green juice! He would have if it wasn't for Johnathan's attentiveness. 

He's begun to feel a bit like a school girl with an obsessive crush. Okay, he wouldn't exactly call his interest in Dan a crush just yet, but he knew it was bound to happen. 

Phil has considered himself "out" for about two years now. He started telling people he was bisexual before eventually clarifying he was solely attracted to men. It's easy for him now, to just tell people he's gay, but for the first time he's not sure if he's brave enough to let Dan know. He had only just met Dan, so the possibility he could be homophobic was enough to make Phil wary.

He took a deep breath and stood up straight. 

It wasn't just Dan though, he had to do so much when he got home. He had to look over bills, clean his apartment, get groceries he didn't have the money for, and so much more adult things that just sounded like a headache. Stress just seemed to wrap around him. He just needed a day off.

Might as well power through today, he got off at 3:00. He glanced down at his watch and sighed before turning to another table to clean.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi um, this is a dead fic that i forgot about a while back. oops. Idk if i'll try to write more, so don't get your hopes up (if you do, but like why???) Thanks for the kudos n shtuff


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